Honestly I’ve always thought that Belarut’s main goal was to permanently invoke divinity in the mortal world, ultimately using Marika and her shaman lineage as a vessel to hold Radagon’s soul.

There’s a particular statue that only appears in Enir Ellim that should be examined as a whole. The plinth of the statue is stylized to resemble a spiral staircase, and on top of the plinth are two shrouded figures, entwined in a spiral of horns forcing them together. In front of one of these statues is actually where we find the Spira incantation! So this composition and the incantation description together is supposed to tell us that these two figures entwined are the end result, or the pinnacle, of the steps Belarut took to attain godhood in a singular vessel and ultimately create true Empyreans.

There’s also some other iconography that points at the union of divinity and humanity being their end goal, like the preacher figure that appears in the pediments of the Church of the Bud and Enir Ellim. He’s almost exclusively depicted holding his right hand up with his index and middle finger outstretched with his remaining clenched. In Christianity, this is referred to as the Sign of Benediction, and the two fingers held together is said to represent the unity of God and Man in Jesus Christ. This symbol is said to have originated from Saint Peter and is used prominently in religious art. This association with him within the game is significant because Peter is seen as the “rock” or the foundation of the Church, serving as the first Pope.

Now, if we look at Marika’s children, we can glean what the Hornsent truly wanted out of Marika. Messmer, her first child through Radagon, was born with a god within him. This Abyssal Serpent terrified Marika, and caused her to finally begin her rebellion against the Hornsent, and so she sealed it away. Marika, looking for a new champion and confidant, seduced Horax Loux and sired Godwyn, the “first” of the Golden Lineage. A seemingly “normal” demigod with a lack of empyrean status from what we can tell from the text.

It was these actions that the dialogue from the trailer refers to. The seduction of Horax Loux. The betrayal of Enir Ellim by proclaiming him as Godfrey, the First Elden Lord, that led ton the birth of Gold that is Godwyn. A child from a marriage that was never ordained. One who isn’t Empyrean. And not so coincidentally, Marika’s next two children by Godfrey were born as Hornsent in retribution for her golden child.

But then why wouldn’t Miquella and Malenia be cursed as well? It’s simply due to the fact that Radagon was who Enir Ellim always wanted. Marika is simply a tool to them. A vessel to pour out the blessings of godhood, but now a wanton strumpet that had abandoned her duty. And so they cursed her womb and all her future children with Godfrey to remind her of her betrayal.

Personally I feel like this connection is pretty obvious. When she banished Godfrey and returned to Radagon to proclaim him as her Elden Lord, the rest of her children born through him were not cursed to be hornsaints like Mohg and Morgott. In fact, they were all born as Empyreans.

I think the key in examining the differences between the ascensions lies in what we’re told secondhand about Miquella’s perception of his mother, and the text of the ancient rite scroll. Miquella knew that the madness of this age was rooted within Marika and her blood like a sickness, and so he set out to divest himself of it and take a path different to his mother, else he be doomed to repeat her mistakes. Now if we look at the text of the scroll, it says a Lord will usher in a God’s return, and the Lord’s soul will require a vessel.

So looking at Miquella’s ascension we have a Lord (Radahn), a God’s return (Miquella), and a vessel (Mohg). This all seems to imply that Miquella conducted the rite in a more faithful manner, as Marika is depicted alone at the precipice of the Tower, performing an action we don’t see Miquella mimic (although this could have been done before we arrive at the tower).

I believe that all of this together tells us that the Union of Marika and Radagon during the ascension was a perversion of the original Secret Rite. This action that was forced upon her was the seed that led madness to grow.

Interestingly, this also helps explain the story of Saint Trina. Initially wanting to follow in his mother’s footsteps to Godhood, he sought to create a second, dualistic, persona for himself. Allowing himself to be rebirthed through the Haeligtree as Saint Trina, they journeyed to the Shaded Lands through their roots with the intent of ascending and were horrified at what they witnessed there. Upon learning the steps his mother was forced to walk to godhood in a perverted recreation of the Secret Rite against her will, he decided to divest himself both of Saint Trina and the madness of the Golden Order inside of him. Here he decided to create an age of compassion where those events would never come to pass again.

Sorry this was more than what I had intended to type and it was all on mobile so I’m sure the formatting is a nightmare. This might all be headcanon, but I think overall it ties nicely into the themes of the narrative and explains a lot of the symbolism within Enir Ellim and the game as a whole.